pa·py·rus

(pə-pī′rəs)

n. pl. pa·py·rus·es or pa·py·ri (-rī′)

1. An aquatic sedge (Cyperus papyrus) native to Africa, having a tall stem and an umbellate inflorescence with numerous arching rays.

a. A material made from the pith or the stems of this sedge, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans especially to write or paint on.

b. A document written on this material.

[Middle English papirus, from Latin papȳrus, from Greek papūros.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

papyrus

(pəˈpaɪrəs)

n, pl -ri (-raɪ) or -ruses

1. (Plants) a tall aquatic cyperaceous plant, Cyperus papyrus, of S Europe and N and central Africa with small green-stalked flowers arranged like umbrella spokes around the stem top

2. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a kind of paper made from the stem pith of this plant, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans

3. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) an ancient document written on this paper

[C14: via Latin from Greek papūros reed used in making paper]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pa•py•rus

(pəˈpaɪ rəs)

n., pl. -py•ri (-ˈpaɪ raɪ, -ri)
-py•rus•es.

1. a tall, aquatic plant, Cyperus papyrus, of the sedge family, native to the Nile valley.

2. a material on which to write, prepared from thin strips of the pith of this plant laid and pressed together, used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.

3. a document written on this material.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin papȳrus < Greek pápȳros]

pa•py′ral, (-rɪn) adj.

papyrus

volume - Originally the name of a scroll or roll of papyrus, from Latin volvere, "to roll up."
bible - Derived from biblios, the name for the papyrus produced in the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos.
schedule - Goes back to Greek skhede, for "leaf of papyrus"; it started out meaning a ticket or a brief note.
tome - Comes from Greek tomos, "roll of papyrus," and was originally a word for one volume of a larger work.

papyrus

A reedlike plant cultivated in Egypt and used by the ancient Egyptians to make paper.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	papyrus - paper made from the papyrus plant by cutting it in strips and pressing it flat; used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks and Romans paper - a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
	2.	papyrus - tall sedge of the Nile valley yielding fiber that served many purposes in historic times Cyperus papyrus, Egyptian paper reed, Egyptian paper rush, paper plant, paper rush sedge - grasslike or rushlike plant growing in wet places having solid stems, narrow grasslike leaves and spikelets of inconspicuous flowers Cyperus, genus Cyperus - type genus of Cyperaceae; grasslike rhizomatous herbs; cosmopolitan except very cold regions
	3.	papyrus - a document written on papyrus document, papers, written document - writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)

Translations

Echter PapyrusPapyrusPapyrusstaude

גומאגומא פפירוספפירוס

papiro

папирус

papyrus

[pəˈpaɪərəs] N (papyruses or papyri (pl)) [pəˈpaɪəraɪ] → papiro m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

papyrus

n pl <papyri> (= plant) → Papyrusstaude f, → Papyrus m; (= paper) → Papyrus m; (= scroll) → Papyrusrolle f, → Papyrus m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

(2) The extant collection of three poems, "Works and Days", "Theogony", and "Shield of Heracles", which alone have come down to us complete, dates at least from the 4th century A.D.: the title of the Paris Papyrus (Bibl.

For recently discovered papyrus fragments see Wilamowitz, "Neue Bruchstucke d.

Unfortunately no papyrus fragment of the Hymns has yet emerged, though one such fragment

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Several of the audience, not being much interested in the missionary's narrative, here left the car; but Elder Hitch, continuing his lecture, related how Smith, junior, with his father, two brothers, and a few disciples, founded the church of the "Latter Day Saints," which, adopted not only in America, but in England, Norway and Sweden, and Germany, counts many artisans, as well as men engaged in the liberal professions, among its members; how a colony was established in Ohio, a temple erected there at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars, and a town built at Kirkland; how Smith became an enterprising banker, and received from a simple mummy showman a papyrus scroll written by Abraham and several famous Egyptians.

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From year to year these marshes, covered with reeds and papyrus fifteen feet high, become the lake itself.

View in context

The material was at first supposed to be the wood of the sycamore (platanus), but, upon cutting into it, we found it to be pasteboard, or, more properly, papier mache, composed of papyrus. It was thickly ornamented with paintings, representing funeral scenes, and other mournful subjects -- interspersed among which, in every variety of position, were certain series of hieroglyphical characters, intended, no doubt, for the name of the departed.

We had expected to find it, as usual, enveloped in frequent rolls, or bandages, of linen; but, in place of these, we found a sort of sheath, made of papyrus, and coated with a layer of plaster, thickly gilt and painted.

Stripping off the papyrus, we found the flesh in excellent preservation, with no perceptible odor.

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De Republics, Atheniensium: Text and facsimile of Papyrus, F.

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In transcribing these ancient MSS, for the purpose of either making the work their own or preserving what they naturally regard as divine revelations, later writers reverently and accurately copy whatever marks they find upon the papyrus or parchment, to the unspeakable enhancement of the lucidity of the thought and value of the work.

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Faria then drew forth from his hiding-place three or four rolls of linen, laid one over the other, like folds of papyrus. These rolls consisted of slips of cloth about four inches wide and eighteen long; they were all carefully numbered and closely covered with writing, so legible that Dantes could easily read it, as well as make out the sense -- it being in Italian, a language he, as a Provencal, perfectly understood.

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Scholars of Arabic and Islamic studies examine Qur'anic quotations in the three most important corpora of papyrus and parchment documents from the imperial and lingua franca periods (632-1000) preserved in original letters, agreements, and amulets.

Qur'an Quotations Preserved on Papyrus Documents, 7th-10th Centuries: And the Problem of Carbon Dating Early Qur'ans